Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and Thackeray, the two big releases from last Friday, haven’t quite set the box office on fire. Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi had collected Rs56.85 crore nett in the first week, while Thackeray (Hindi and Marathi) collected around Rs25 crore nett, as reported by Boxofficeindia.com.
Commenting on the first week collections of Manikarnika, trade analyst Girish Wankhede told Cinestaan.com, “The first day collection was about Rs8.5 crore nett, Saturday was Rs18 crore and Sunday was Rs14 crore. Now for a film with a woman protagonist, who also co-directed the film, it is a total win-win situation for Ranaut. A leap from Rs8 crore to Rs18 crore nett is one of the great things with a film having a female protagonist.”
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Wankhede pointed out that the film’s huge budget makes it difficult for the producers and distributors to recover their cost. “Manikarnika has got good box office [collections], but when you look at the macro picture, if you look at the budget, the cost of production, then the film is a loser. Taking prints & advertisements into account, the total budget is said to be around Rs120 crore approximately. The film can only recover the marginal cost of its cost of production, and most probably, the P&A will still be sinking.”
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi was released on 3,000 screens in India. Co-directed by Ranaut and Krish, the film is produced by Zee Studios, Kairos Kontent and Nishant Pitti. The combined satellite, digital, and music rights have been sold for Rs40 crore [all to Zee].
Though Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Thackeray had an average first week, Wankhede pointed out that the film would still recover its cost due to its low budget. According to sources, Thackeray is made an estimated budget of Rs30 crore and was released on 1,200 screens in India.
“Thackeray is a small budget film that had a good opening in Maharastra. It is a good propaganda film, but I don’t know how many of Thackeray’s followers [from the rural lands] would go and pay and watch the film. Thackeray had limited screens compared to Manikarnika. Given its budget, it should recover its cost,” said Wankhede.
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The biopic on the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Keshav Thackeray is produced and distributed by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. The Hindi version collected around Rs15 crore nett.
Sonam and Anil Kapoor-starrer Ek Lakdi Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga has been released today, but Wankhede still expects Manikarnika to do well in the second weekend.
“Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga looks like a niche film. So, I expect people to prefer Manikarnika and Thackeray this weekend. If not match the opening weekend [figures], I expect Manikarnika to sustain in the second weekend,” said Wankhede.